When you start any new diet/nutrition plan, the first few grocery trips can feel super overwhelming. You may buy things that you think are “healthy” or what you’ve seen your favorite fitness influencer buy, only to get home and realize you don’t actually like those foods. Or worse, you’ve got a bunch of random items that don’t work together. I wanted to share my ultimate macro friendly grocery list to make your transition into counting macros a little easier! Remember, the best diet is one you can actually stick to. If you hate ground turkey and quinoa, you’re not going to be able to force yourself to eat it just to hit your macros. And while these are some of my staple macro friendly grocery list recommendations, feel free to make substitutions that better fit your macro plan AND your preferences.
Before we dig in, let’s chat about the term “macro friendly.” First and foremost, it’s pretty subjective. What I deem macro friendly may not fit your macros as well as mine. While you can use online macro calculators to determine yours, I highly recommend having a professional calculate them for you instead. The online calculators tend to be too restrictive. I got my custom macros from my personal trainer. You can check him out here! When determining whether something is macro friendly for you, consider the following:
Is the serving size worth the calories?
If something is 300 calories for a serving, will you be content with one serving? The best example of this is chips. Most chips are roughly 170 calories for 11 chips. We all know we aren’t going to be satisfied with 11 chips.
Is the protein worth the calories?
The biggest offenders in this category are protein bars and peanut butter. It’s likely someone told you at some point in your life that peanut butter was a good source of protein. Let me tell you now, it is not. And the reason is because 1 tbsp of Jif peanut butter is 70 calories but ONLY 2.5g protein. So to get a “good source” of protein, you’d have to eat a lot of peanut butter. And by doing that you’re going to eat a ton of calories and fat.
Lenny and Larry’s protein cookies are another good example because the packaging is sneaky. The front of the package says it has 16g of protein. However, if you look at the nutrition info on the back, you’ll see that one serving is only half a cookie. Therefore you only get 8g of protein and 210 calories. If you want to get the entire 16g of protein, you have to eat the entire cookie which is 420 calories. If you really enjoy them, then you can absolutely make them work. But you are likely better off eating a more macro friendly protein bar or an actual meal with a protein source, carb, and veggie because you’ll likely eat less calories/fat/carbs and get more protein.
Will you be satisfied?
Don’t just look for the lowest calorie options you can find. It’s common to be on the hunt for low calories items so that you can eat more food over the course of the day but a lot of the time, items are labeled as low calories because they are low quantity. Sure, the 100 calorie packs are low calorie but there’s also 5 crackers in the package. You’re going to eat it and then immediately be on the hunt for something else to eat because you are still hungry and also, not mentally satisfied either.
Don’t fear a 500 calorie meal or a slightly carb heavy meal. Food is fuel. You’ll be better off eating a little bit larger meal that has a side of carbs because you’ll stay fuller longer and ultimately prevent unnecessary snacking.
Do you enjoy it?
While it is important to take into consideration the questions I mentioned above, it’s also important that you actually enjoy the food. Greek yogurt is generally accepted as a really macro friendly food because it is high in protein and moderate in calories, fat, and carbs. But the fact is, I do not like Greek yogurt so it’s not something that works for me. Make sure you find items that fit your preferences and not just what you think you should buy.
Before making your macro friendly grocery list:
Before you head to store with my staple grocery list items in hand, it may be helpful to peruse some macro friendly recipe ideas before you go. Breakfast and lunch can be a little easier to throw together but dinners can take a little more effort. This will help you get an idea for what you can make for the week ahead. The internet is full of macro friendly recipes to choose from and because most of them break down in to protein, carb, and veggie, you can find ones that are really simple to make.
Check out these previous blog posts for some ideas: A Foodie’s Guide To Macro Friendly Eating & 5 Easy Macro Friendly Meals To Make This Week
Macro Friendly Grocery List Staples:
Proteins:
The following are our staple proteins. Each week we pick 3-4 of the meat proteins from this list as well as eggs, yogurt and cottage cheese for my husband, one of the breakfast meat options, and lunch meat.
- Chicken breast
- Lean ground beef or turkey
- Burgers and tacos are often on our dinner menu
- Chicken sausage
- Eggs
- Pork tenderloin
- Pork chops
- Sirloin
- Sirloin tends to be leaner but most steaks can be made to fit in your macros.
- Turkey or chicken breakfast sausage
- Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patties (I’m not always a fan of turkey but these are amazing!
- My husband prefers the Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles for breakfast tacos.
- Al Fresco country style chicken sausage patties
- Bacon
- Shrimp
- Turkey meatballs
- Armour turkey meatballs have awesome macros. The beef are not as macro friendly but doable too.
- Frozen chicken strips
- Lunch meat
- Deli chicken is usually our preference but we also get black forest ham sometimes too!
- Cottage cheese
- Greek yogurt
- Plain greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream.
- My husband likes the Chobani drinkable yogurts for breakfast.
Carbs:
It’s important to mention that most fruits have carbs but I put them in their own category for the sake of making your shopping easier and more concise! Remember, carbs are not the enemy.
- Bread
- Bagels
- Tortillas
- La Banderita Carb Counter Wraps are the superior, most macro friendly tortilla around. Cannot recommend them enough.
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Birds Eye oven roasters are a great frozen option to pop in the oven.
- Hush puppies
- These are the least macro friendly carb on the list but they are a tasty carb side for 140 calories.
- Pasta
- Cheese tortellini
- Rosina Celentano is the lowest calorie option I’ve found.
Dairy:
If you’re vegan or don’t tolerate dairy well, feel free to skip ahead. Many dairy options contain protein so some of these fit in that category as well! If you have opinions or concerns about the way dairy animal products are raised and/or created, please check out @DairyGirlFitness on Instagram. There is a ton of misinformation out there about dairy and it’s worth educating yourself further.
- Milk
- I would probably avoid whole milk because its quite high in fat but if you love it, you can make it work. My husband drinks 2%. While I am a big proponent of dairy, especially in the cheese variety, I do not like regular milk. I opt for almond milk for my protein shakes.
- Cheese
- Shredded cheese for scrambled eggs, tacos, flatbread pizzas, chicken wraps etc.
- Sliced cheese for sandwiches.
- Yogurt
- Cream cheese
- Cottage cheese
Produce:
Here’s the thing, you can eat within your macros without ever touching fruit and veggies but it is obviously not the healthiest route. When I first started tracking my macros, I rarely ate fruits and vegetables because I realized I could mostly achieve physique goals with them. However, life isn’t all about physique. Now, I aim for 3 servings of fruit and veggies a day. Usually its two fruits and one veggie but I am working on slowly building it up to 4 servings. Fruits and vegetables are not only necessary for micronutrients and health, they are often low calorie/high fiber items that will keep you satiated. Don’t skip ’em, okay?
- Fresh green beans
- Sautéed with red onions, salt, pepper, minced garlic, and any other seasoning you like. I used Old Bay!
- Frozen veggies
- We almost exclusively buy broccoli because it’s what we like best. You just can’t beat popping the whole bag in the microwave for a few minutes.
- Birdseye veggie pastas are also a macro friendly grocery list staple. The macaroni and cheese one is made with zucchini and lentil so be aware this would very much be considered a carb too.
- Bell peppers and/or baby carrots
- With hummus for dipping! My favorite hummus is Boars head sweet chili garlic.
- Any fruit you want
- We pick up bananas, apples, and clementines or strawberries depending on what is in season.
- Don’t let people tell you, you can’t eat certain fruits because of sugar or carbs. Unless you have an underlying condition or are eating high sugar in other places, fruit is almost always a great choice!
Sauces & condiments
AKA, happiness! Finding macro friendly sauces and condiments has made a world of difference in eating for my goals while also actually enjoying my food. If you need to put a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on your broccoli to make it enjoyable, you do it sister. Same goes for condiments! Just be aware of your portions because if you’re not measuring them (at least for a little while) you’ll likely consume more than you think.
- Taco Bell sauce
- Crystal hot sauce
- Smuckers all natural peanut butter
- I dip my apples in this peanut butter because it is saltier than Jif or other peanut butters.
- Old El Paso creamy queso & zesty ranch
- Awesome on tacos and to jazz up grilled chicken plus they have a bunch of other flavors to choose from if you don’t love these.
- Salsa
- We use it for tacos but it can also make for a really good macro friendly salad dressing.
- Mustard
- Regular yellow mustard and the Publix brand sweet & spicy mustard are basically calorie free! Matt prefers Boars head honey mustard which works in moderation as well.
- Rana Portobello Mushroom sauce
- This is what I use on my cheese tortellini and it is delicious! If you like red sauce, they have a marinara as well and it is usually even more macro friendly.
- Ritz cracker coating or Shake & Bake
Snacks:
- Yasso bars
- The original are the most macro friendly because they are a little lower calorie and higher protein but the chocolate dipped are the best!
- White cheddar popcorn (or any popcorn)
- Smart sweets
- String cheese
- Dark chocolate with sea salt
- Quest bars
- The double chocolate chunk and peanut brownie smash are my favorite flavors! If you aren’t a big fan of Quest bars, heat them up in the microwave for 10 seconds and they’re so much better.
- Also, you can get Quest Hero bars. They don’t have as much protein as the originals but they taste like candy bars!
Check out this video to see more of my favorite macro friendly snacks!
I hope you found my macro friendly grocery list helpful and are feeling confident about your next shopping trip! Remember consistency and sustainability are key for any diet/nutrition plan. If you can’t imagine eating this way in 10 years, then it’s probably not the diet for you. That’s why I love counting macros so much! It feels the most flexible and sustainable to me.
-The Relatable Red
